The United Nations World Food Programme said on Thursday that food security and child nutrition have improved across the Gaza Strip, but remain fragile because only one aid crossing remains open.

The Rome-based agency noted 'an improvement in food security and child nutrition across the Gaza Strip,' but 'warned that this progress, achieved thanks to expanded access to humanitarian assistance related to food, nutrition, agriculture, and health, remains fragile.'

It added that there has been a 'significant' increase in food aid since the ceasefire agreement was reached in October 2025.

Food parcels were delivered to around 1.5 million people in May, while some 700,000 people received cash assistance, and 60 percent of children under five received nutritional support.

Last month, Tom Fletcher, the UN aid chief, called for the opening of all crossings into the Gaza Strip and the immediate lifting of Israeli restrictions on the entry of goods such as medical equipment and fuel.

Displaced Palestinians line up to receive donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, July 23, 2026 (AP)

The World Food Programme cited preliminary indicators in the Strip suggesting the possibility of 'restoring local food production, if farmers and livestock breeders can access agricultural land, production inputs, productive assets, veterinary support, and other essential services such as energy for irrigation.'

The UN agency pointed to the livestock sector, 'where sheep numbers have risen by 33 percent in areas where support has continued.'

But it warned that 'this has limits, unless restrictions on what enters the Strip are lifted.'

The two-year war between the Israeli army and Hamas has severely damaged Gaza's agricultural sector.

The World Food Programme said that more than 70 percent of Gaza's agricultural land is inaccessible, and only 3 percent is currently usable.